True Friends
by Nature9000
Summary: When Sam and Freddie fail to visit Carly, she starts to worry and calls their friends. Then two of their best friends inform her that there are some actions of hers that are questionable. Her friendship comes into question, is she really a true friend?


True Friends

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly or the song "I'll be here for you" by The Rembrandts

A/N: In my evaluation of iCarly episodes, and from what I've been seeing through the older and the newer ones…Carly's friendship comes into question for me. So here, and yes, there will be some Seddie in this, so enjoy!

* * *

-IS THIS FRIENDSHIP TRUE?-

Carly sat on her living room couch watching another episode of her favorite television show. She was expecting Sam to come by earlier, but she never did. She had to wonder why, since it was so unlike Sam to say she'd be over and then never come by.

She also wondered why Freddie hadn't come over, since she thought he would come over and attempt to flirt with Sam. It was obvious that he was flirting with Sam these days, while still trying to say he liked Carly. Not only that, Sam actually _enjoyed_ when he flirted with her. She had told Carly that she couldn't get the picture of Freddie sleeping in only his socks out of her mind, and that she enjoyed it. Carly merely laughed at her and told her it was crazy to imagine something like that only because Freddie said he had done that.

Years after pushing Freddie away whenever he made an attempt to be pushy and declare his love for her seemed to wear her down. Lately, he seemed to be doing it less and less, and Carly was thankful for it. Sure, she could have given him a shot at least once, but there really wasn't any point in doing so. She never liked him like that. Even still, Freddie always came to her apartment every day in order to see how she was doing. The strange thing was, he did not drop by today. In fact, she couldn't say that she'd seen him all day.

Neither Sam nor Freddie had really talked to her during the day, and she wanted to know why. She was their best friend, they always talked to her. She was always with them through thick and thin, wasn't she? Sure, they had their disputes every now and then. Sam told her one time that during the time that Ms. Benson and Lewbert dated, that Carly could have shown a little more concern for Freddie. So she didn't think there was anything to worry about, so sue her. She cared for her friends, that was always what she said, and she believed it. So why, why would Sam and Freddie not contact her about this change in their schedule?

"Freddie's probably in his apartment and forgot to come talk to me about the show," Carly said as she stood up and walked to her door. She looked over and saw Spencer working away on his sculpture, he was building a large bear made of wooden pencils. He glanced at her and waved as she walked out the door and across to Freddie's apartment. She knocked on the door and waited until Ms. Marissa Benson appeared.

"Oh, hello Carly," Marissa said while giving a slight frown. "Uh, how can I help you today?"

"Do you know why Freddie hasn't come by? I was hoping to discuss the next show. Actually, I haven't talked to either Sam or Freddie in a while, and they missed the rehearsal." Freddie had shown up for rehearsal yesterday, but it was very brief. The entire time he was there, he didn't say much at all. Sam did the same thing for the rehearsal prior to that day. She had only focused on her lines and then left. Marissa sighed and shook her head. She didn't look all that interested in talking, but it didn't matter.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know where he is today. I haven't seen him at all, but maybe if you call him you'll be able to get him."

"Thanks Ms. Benson." Marissa smiled and closed the door. Carly still thought it was odd that he hadn't contacted her, and neither had Sam, so she decided to call Sam first. She pulled out her cell phone and listened as it rang once and then jumped to the voicemail. Carly blinked in shock, Sam _never_ left her cell phone off. "Uh, Sam this is Carly, how are you? Weren't you going to come over and watch this movie marathon with me?"

Sure, she sounded desperate for attention, but who wouldn't be when your best friends seemed to blow you off? Carly hung up and stared at the phone, thinking about who she could try next. Freddie, she would have to call him and see where he was. She dialed his number and placed the phone to her ear, once more, the voicemail picked up. "Freddie, where are you? Were we not going to talk about the next iCarly or something? If you get this, please call me back as soon as you can!"

Carly hung up and groaned as she walked back into her apartment, still growing frustrated over the fact that her friends were not answering their phones or contacting her at all. She slammed the door and looked over at Spencer's sculpture; he was not working on it. She crossed her arms and walked over, admiring the work done on it. Spencer was a great artist, and she would always believe that. Carly looked over as Spencer walked from the kitchen, drying his hands with a towel.

"Are you all right, baby sister?" Spencer asked in a concerned voice. Carly gave a sigh as he rubbed her back. "What seems to be the matter?"

"Freddie and Sam both are missing and their phones are turned off. I was expecting both of them to come by at some point of time today, but they didn't ever do that. Where do you think they are, Spencer?" Her brother shrugged and looked at her with sad eyes.

"Maybe they wanted to get away from you for some reason."

"What? Why!" It didn't make any sense to her, they always wanted to spend time with her.

"I don't know, maybe you should ask their best friends."

"I _am_ their best friend!" Carly was becoming more frustrated with the situation at hand, none of it made any sense to her and Spencer was not helping. He shrugged and went back to work on his sculpture, but Carly still had questions. "What do you mean best friends, aren't I their best friend?" Okay, she knew that Sam and Freddie had other friends they talked to. There was Jake, there was Jonah, and then there was Valerie. Freddie didn't really talk to Shane much anymore, so he wasn't considered a friend.

"Have you ever thought maybe they have other friends they're close to?"

"Oh come on." Spencer shrugged and kept working on his sculpture, his mind was currently distracted by that.

"Sometimes you do seem a bit…self-loving." Carly raised her eyebrow and tilted her head, she was trying to figure out how on earth she was selfish. Spencer wasn't going to be much help for her, so she figured she'd call up one of Freddie's friends. She walked to the couch and pulled out her cell phone to dial Jake's number. It rang a couple of times and Jake soon answered.

"Uh, yeah…Carly, how are you?" Jake asked in a quiet voice. Carly was sure she could hear music in the background, but she wasn't sure what it was. There was music and someone laughing. "Look, this may not be the best time to talk, Car-"

"Do you know where Sam and Freddie are!" Carly exclaimed. Jake stuttered slightly and Carly gave a small sigh. "Sorry, but they were supposed to come and see me today. Probably not at the same time, but they always come by and see me. Sam said she was going to try and come by."

"She did?"

"Well, I thought she did…" Okay, so Sam didn't really say it, but Carly pretty much expected her to since she always did come by and try to spend the night.

"So, they were _supposed_ to come by?" Carly rolled her eyes and gave a small groan.

"Yes." She raised her eyebrow when she thought she heard some girl calling out for Jake to come over and join in some game, she was hoping he wouldn't and he would know where his friend was.

"Um, Carly, I…I don't really know where they could be. For all I know, Sam's at her house and Freddie…well he's probably at his home or doing something else. I can't really talk right now, I'm playing a game of beach volleyball right now."

"Oh…well then, who all is playing?"

"Just a few friends of mine are playing, and some others. There are about ten of us together, two teams of five."

"Maybe there's room for one more?"

"Nope, sorry, that would make an odd number of players. I mean, it's not that we don't want you to play…it's just…the game _is_ almost over anyway."

"Oh, I see. Well, if you see Freddie or Sam, could you ask them to come by? I don't know why, but it feels like they're avoiding me."

"I'll do that." The girl shouted for Jake to get back to the court, so he gave a small sigh and told Carly goodbye as he hung up the phone. Carly moaned and lay back on the couch, she would never understand why this was happening to her. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, only to be awakened by a rapid knocking at the door twenty minutes later. Thinking it was her friends, she quickly got up and answered the door.

"Guys, finally, you're he….you're not Sam and Freddie." It was Jonah and Valerie, they were visiting. Carly sighed and gestured for them to enter, so they did so. Jonah and Valerie both moved to the couch and sat down while Carly sat in the recliner. "So, how are you guys?"

"Well, we were told to come down here, actually," Jonah started.

"Why? I hope it wasn't an inconvenience!" Jonah and Valerie both chuckled nervously and leaned back in the couch. Jonah draped his arm around Valerie's shoulders as she gave a slight smile.

"No it really wasn't," Valerie said in a calm voice. Carly could tell it wasn't true, the couple had been doing something just before this. "We finished playing beach volleyball and Jake said we should come by." Carly raised her eyebrow as Valerie crossed her arms and frowned. "He said you think Sam and Freddie are avoiding you." Carly nodded and Valerie rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Carly, I'm not sure how to say this, but…I don't know if Sam and Freddie actually…" She sighed and scrunched her face as she looked to Jonah with a worried look. He merely closed his eyes and started to speak.

"To be blunt, they don't want to hang around you," Jonah said. Carly's mouth fell and Spencer glanced over from his sculpture.

"Jonah, you weren't supposed to be harsh!"

"Well it's the truth! They don't want to be around someone who thinks only of herself!" Carly's mouth hung agape while Jonah and Valerie stared at each other. She couldn't believe it, Sam and Freddie thought she thought only of herself? Why? She never thought of herself before them. Valerie glanced toward the floor and Jonah looked toward Carly with a serious look. "Your friendship has come into question."

"I don't understand, why would they think such a horrible thing?" Carly asked while on the verge of tears. Jonah closed his eyes and gave a small sound of frustration. Valerie sighed and looked toward Carly with concern.

"We're their best friends, they tell us everything," Valerie started while moving her hands up in the air. "Um, well Jake told us you called and we talked to…" Valerie stopped and Carly raised her eyebrow, finally she figured where they might be.

"Go on, you can say they were with you guys…I-I don't care." Valerie sighed and gave Carly an apologetic look, Jonah merely shrugged.

"They gave us the permission to talk to you, since they didn't really want to tell you. They're not sure how well they can be friends with someone like you…Freddie is a bit annoyed with you and Sam's well…she is also."

"Why? Why would they say that?"

"It's just because of gradual things," Jonah said in a quiet voice.

"It's not your fault, really!" Valerie said quickly. "Well, I mean it's them, well they say it is…they say they don't like how you treat them like they're not really all that important."

"What!" Carly cried out. She quickly stood up and stared at the two in shock, she didn't even know what to say.

"Okay, let me put it this way," Jonah said while crossing his arms. "Freddie's pissed, and Sam's pissed. They've told us over the years how you treated them, and recently they've been evaluating your treatment and have been seeing a number of instances that seem to say you're not really a true or caring friend."

"Jonah, be _nice_," Valerie scolded in a quiet voice. Jonah sighed and looked over at her with a soft and apologetic face.

"I'm sorry, but it's just…I was looking for the walk and then the dance."

"Jonah, they said they'd continue playing the volleyball game until we're back. They don't want us to miss out on everything."

"Hey guys, let's get back to why Sam and Freddie don't like me anymore, can we?" Carly asked with a slight impatient voice. Jonah rolled his eyes and glared over.

"That's what we're talking about. It's all about what pleases you," Jonah replied. "Freddie has told me time after time about how you would treat him. Not only would you reject him, which he became fine with over time, but you would say one thing then say another later."

"Like with Shane," Valerie said as she gave a soft sigh. "You said something about AV club members not being cool, and then when Shane came around, all of a sudden they were cool. You also were impressed by his brain."

"Tell me that's not the only accusation," Carly said while narrowing her eyes.

"It's not. There's another thing that got both of them really pissed off. Freddie sent that text message to Sam, but immediately went after her…"

"Well, what about it?" Jonah sighed and rubbed his forehead, he wished Carly would just calm down and listen.

"You laughed," Jonah said while lowering his hand. Carly's mouth fell and Jonah crossed his arms over. "The instant he told you it was him, you laughed at what would have been something that would have _hurt_ Sam."

"No, she wasn't really crushing on Gary Wolf," Valerie stated. "She actually liked…" She blinked and gave a small sigh in response. "Anyway, no one deserves to get a text from someone that might like them and then realize they don't really care."

"If anything, Carly…Freddie expected you to _scold_ him for doing that to your best friend. Yet, you didn't." Even though Sam was fine with it when Freddie went after her, once they told Jonah and Valerie, Valerie scolded Freddie on the prank. She had asked what would have happened if it had been the case that Sam liked Gary.

"Sam also said that you don't seem to let her get any of the guys, and they always go after you." Carly still remained speechless. If there was anything she could do, she would, but they seemed right. "There was that possibility that Shane would have gone out with her, but you just _had_ to have him."

"Funny how that wound up…Freddie wasn't too pleased with it at all. In case you didn't notice, and they suspect you're too vain to notice, he's been becoming more annoyed with you."

"W-Well he did yell at me once," Carly said in a quiet voice. "Sam closed the laptop on his hand and I told him it wasn't something a cool person would say…he told me he didn't care."

"Uh huh, and he didn't care. In fact, you had just called him uncool and insulted him to his face."

"Sam does it all the time!"

"They're just playing! They're never serious!" Carly looked shocked, and slightly taken aback by his tone. She always thought they were serious when they fought. "If you were a true enough friend, then you would have seen what all of their other friends saw. They liked each other and those insults were just their way of teasing each other, it was a game to them."

"Jonah, relax," Valerie said while rubbing his hand. "It's true, Carly. Even their pranks that led up to that text message had been a game."

"Yeah, they had wanted to see who could outdo the other at the whole prank setup. Sam lucked out with the chain letter, so she took advantage of that. Then he figured out it was her and decided to send her the text, and of course, they didn't figure out who won. When Freddie told Sam how you acted, she became really upset and really angry."

"She cried, Carly." Carly's mouth still hung open as she looked toward Valerie, confused by what these two were saying. Valerie closed her eyes and gave a quick sigh. "She said she didn't know why you had to laugh, why you became impressed with Freddie. It was like you wanted her to be in pain. Not only that, the way you said the words when she received the text was like _you_ deserved the text and not her."

"But all I said was that I was surprised she got a text message from the guy," Carly stated. "I didn't mean-" Now Valerie's tone raised, she was angry with Carly's treatment of Sam.

"You said: 'Why would the hottest guy in school send _you_ a text message?' and then Sam says you went on to cover your tracks by saying 'Not that you're not very appealing and attractive' and so forth. So, did you think you deserved that text from Gary more than she did?"

"Well…I don't…I don't know! I'm just, I was surprised!"

"Every guy that Sam seems to like, you like him too. Is that just a coincidence? Is it? Or do you just not want her to be happy! Sam thinks that if she told you she liked Freddie, you'd wind up liking him. In fact, you were pretty much impressed when he sent that text!" Jonah stared at his girlfriend with wide eyes, he was shocked at her outburst.

"Weren't you supposed to be the patient one?" Jonah asked while smirking. Valerie sighed and shrugged her shoulders. He smiled softly and then frowned as he looked toward Carly. "Freddie also remembers when he dated Valerie…it meant more to Sam that she was using him, whereas you seemed more concerned about the fact that Valerie was sabotaging your webshow. It just so happened that the only way to get her not to do it was by doing what Sam wanted and revealing that Valerie was using him." Carly frowned and felt a tear starting to from at her eyes, he was right, she had been concerned about her webshow.

"It just means a lot to us," Carly said in a quiet voice.

"It means more to you than it does to them, that's what they're saying. Freddie also told me about how you thought when Sam was dating me that we should be broken up because I was distracting her from the _show_. Freddie also was more concerned that I tried to…you know what I did. He yelled at me a lot for what I had done. You didn't do anything at all."

"You could have offered her comfort," Valerie said while tilting her head to the side. "Why didn't you?"

"I did!" Carly protested. "Honestly, I did!" Valerie slowly shook her head and Carly turned a guilty look toward the ground.

"She came to me later and told me how you told her that it would be okay and that Jonah wasn't worth the trouble, so sure you tried, but you didn't comfort her. She was still in tears and still saying how all the guys seemed to like you better than her. She brought this up with you once, and you _dismissed_ it as nothing important!"

"Well we were in the middle of rehearsal."

"Aha!" Jonah shouted. "You see? There it is! There it is right there!" Carly frowned and Jonah slowly shook his head. "Yeah, you were in the middle of a _rehearsal_. Well you weren't doing a live show, and Freddie, was he in the room at the time?" Carly shook her head and Jonah merely grumbled. "Then you could have taken that moment to comfort Sam. Instead, she just dried her own tears and bottled it up. Here's something else Freddie told me. He said that he didn't really want Sam to pay back that money she owed you guys."

"He said that?"

"Yes, he said that it wasn't that important to him. He just wanted her to have a job so she could have some money of her own and she could buy the things she needed. You on the other hand wanted her to pay back the money. I'm not sure, but I think he said you changed your tune after a while."

"I'm sure I did some good things for her!"

"Name a few good things you did for them." Carly tapped her chin in thought, she was sure she could name something.

"Well I hang out with them, I gave them popularity via iCarly, and I care about them."

"If you cared about them, you would pay more attention to them. Also, who cares if they got popularity or not, they don't care. Freddie tells me that he thinks if it wasn't for pity, you probably wouldn't even be his friend."

"Um…maybe…" Jonah raised his eyebrow and Carly bit her lip, unsure of what to say.

"Carly, if you got a once in a lifetime offer to go to Hollywood and become an actress would you go?"

"Well of course!" Jonah closed his eyes and nodded slowly, that was acceptable.

"Okay. Now what if Sam and Freddie couldn't go? What if they had to stay behind and go to college, would you still go? Not only that, but if you were to go, would you even keep in touch with them? Be honest here, just do it."

"Remember, you can still be their friend if you want to," Valerie said while giving Carly a hopeful smile. "You just need to pay a little more attention to them and not to your webshow. If you had been paying more attention, you would have seen that they had begun dating a couple of months. They wanted to see if you would notice."

"They're dating!" Carly exclaimed in shock. Her eyes grew wide and Valerie sighed with discontent. "You mean they were dating at the time of the text message as well?"

"Yes," Jonah said in a gruff tone of voice. "They told us when they started, and Jake figured it out within only a week. They were so happy and they acted it too. They just couldn't believe that things were finally going well for them. Then you were impressed with Freddie when he sent that text."

"Sam confided to me about something else," Valerie said while shifting her eyes toward the side. "She was afraid that once you knew that she was dating Freddie, you would suddenly gain interest in him and start wanting to date him. You would say that you saw Freddie first and that you deserved to date him." Carly frowned and her body shook as tears ran down her cheeks, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't want to be the bad person, she wanted her friends to like her. "You also scold Sam a _lot_ more than you should."

"Also as a friend, maybe you could have given Freddie that _one_ chance to date you that he wanted. So what if it didn't work out? At least with what happened with Shane, he knows you pretty much like smart people who know what they're talking about."

"He was too pushy, wasn't that your reason?" Carly gave a tearful nod and Valerie sighed as she walked over to Carly and gave her a soft hug. Valerie pulled back and smiled as she looked into Carly's eyes. "Look, all hope is not lost."

"What do you mean?" Carly asked in a quick voice. She had just been informed that her two best friends didn't think she cared about them, that hit her hard.

"They still like you, and are willing to give you another chance, but you need to pay more attention to them. Also, if you want to, you can come down to the beach with us."

"Yeah, but you might be the odd one out," Jonah said while chuckling lightly. "I mean…as far as couples go and all. There are us, then Sam and Freddie, Jake and Stephanie, Rueben and Shannon, and finally Gibby and Shannon's friend Amber are together."

"What about Shane?" Carly asked. Jonah raised his eyebrow and Valerie glanced to the side. Jonah gave a rough sigh and crossed his arms.

"Freddie really doesn't want Shane to be anywhere near him or Sam. Sam doesn't like Shane. It might be a bad idea to bring him to the party."

"Why don't they like Shane?"

"She tried to tell you this once before," Valerie said in a quiet voice. "Shane hit on her, he flirted with her and she got mad at him. Then he got a little aggressive and started yelling, scaring her."

"When was that?"

"About a week ago…she said she went to your apartment and when she mentioned Shane's name, you started talking about how awesome it was when you had him on the show. Then you said it was a shame that you didn't get to date him. She left the apartment and went to Freddie's, but he wasn't there, so she came to me. She was like a scared little child, so innocent. I called up Jonah who was with Freddie and the two came over and then Freddie was able to comfort her." Carly's eyes widened in shock as Valerie took a slight step back.

"Oh my god, I didn't know! If I knew, then I would never have…"

"You couldn't know. It was the second she mentioned Shane and you got excited. But don't worry, she doesn't hate you, and neither does Freddie. They're willing to talk to you if you'll pay more attention to them." Carly quickly stood up and nodded, she wanted to show them that she was a true friend, she wanted to prove that she did care.

"I am a good friend, and I do care! Honest, I am a true friend!"

"Don't tell us that," Jonah said while walking toward the door. "Tell them." He stopped and glanced back, a smirk appearing on his face. "By the way, come along if you want to talk to them. I recommend it. They're going to want you to talk to them first."

"I understand, I'll talk to them." Jonah chuckled slightly and opened the door, Valerie followed close afterwards and Carly quickly after her.

-NEW SCENE-

"When do you think they're going to get back?" Sam asked while sitting next to Freddie. Everyone was taking a break and hoped that Jonah and Valerie would return before sundown. They were going to continue playing volleyball and then they were going to watch the sunset, then walk across the beach and finally dance to some music. However, they needed Jonah and Valerie to be there or else it wasn't going to be much fun.

"They'll be here soon," Freddie said while chuckling and wrapping his arms around Sam's shoulders. "The band can't start without its drummer." Sam laughed lightly and nodded her head. The group was in their last year of high school, and Freddie had started a band with his two friends. The band was named The Shadow Kings.

"You know, I was wondering…maybe we should have invited Carly." Freddie raised his eyebrow and shrugged, he wasn't so sure about it.

"The way Carly is…I don't know. I mean for Shane to actually grope your butt and then you go to her and she starts talking about how hot he is and whatnot…I am not so sure she's such a good friend."

"I know how it sounds, but still, there _have_ been a few good times." Freddie nodded in agreement and slowly stood up, he knew his band would have to get up soon. "I just wish I knew she cared."

"What's this about me not caring?" A voice asked. Sam gasped and quickly stood up, turning around as she did so. Freddie looked over and smirked while crossing his arms. Carly was standing before them, smirking.

"Carly, what are you doing here?" Jonah and Valerie walked over toward their friends and chuckled nervously.

"Well, we told her she could come," Valerie said in a kind voice.

"I'm glad that she did…" Sam looked at Carly and crossed her arms. "Carly, I think we need to talk."

"I just want to say I'm sorry," Carly said while giving Sam a quick hug. "I should pay attention to you more. I had no idea about Shane, and I should have seen when you and Freddie started dating. Please, don't think I'm not a true friend, because I am! I love you guys! You're my best friends."

"Carly, we never thought you weren't a good friend," Freddie stated. He stepped next to her and patted her on the shoulder. "We just thought you were treating us unfairly, and given what happened recently, we were a bit mad."

"I'm sorry, can you ever forgive me?" Freddie and Sam raised their eyebrows as they looked at their friend, she seemed genuinely sorry. "I will never take Freddie from you, Sam. I'm sorry that I laughed when Freddie sent that text! I'm sorry that I seemed like I didn't care about you as much as iCarly. I'm sorry a million times over for everything. I am a good friend, I still care and I love you both! Please forgive me for being stupid and even selfish…" Freddie and Sam looked at each other and smiled. They shrugged and gave Carly a friendly hug.

"Carly, you're still our best friend," Sam said while breathing a small sigh. "There's nothing that will ever change that. Maybe you don't think straight sometimes, but who does?" Freddie laughed and shook his head while wrapping his arm around Sam's waist.

"It's good to know you won't try to take me away from Sam, then," Freddie said while giving a slight chuckle. "I don't know what I could do if I didn't have her." Sam blushed and Freddie gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. "I don't know what you're going to do, Carly…there's no person for you to pair up with, and this is sort of a night for couples."

"I don't mind, I just want to be here for my best friends," Carly said while grinning.

"Cool. Stick around for the music as well, we have to get the show on the road." Freddie walked toward the stage on the beach and glanced back. "Jake! Jonah! Get over here guys!"

"We're coming!" Jake said as he gave his girlfriend a soft kiss before running toward the stage. Jonah laughed and Valerie kissed his cheek.

"Do your best," Valerie said while smirking. "You always do."

"What would they do without the drummer, through?" Valerie chuckled as she watched Jonah run off. She stepped next to Sam and Carly and crossed her arms.

"There they are, the boys are getting ready."

"Yeah, Freddie's band is so cool," Carly said while smiling. Okay, she was lying, she didn't know Freddie started a band. Everybody else on the beach, including the seven friends that were with Freddie, Jake, and Jonah all crowded near the stage. "Wow, he's got the entire beach ready."

"Yeah, these are like the final times of our lives!" Shannon said from beside the others. Rueben laughed and gently kissed her neck.

"I don't know what will happen when we all leave," Reuben said in a quiet voice. Everyone silenced and began thinking, what would happen after their senior year was over and they went to college? Sam and Freddie intended to stay together and Carly hadn't figured out where exactly she'd go to college at.

"Maybe we'll all still be friends," Valerie said with a soft smile.

"I think I'll go to the college with Sam and Freddie," Carly stated. Sam looked at Carly and smiled, she was happy to hear that.

On stage, the boys got ready to start the music. Jonah grabbed his drumsticks and sat at the drums behind and in the middle of where Jake and Freddie would stand. Jake picked up the bass guitar and grinned as he stepped next to his microphone and looked toward Freddie. Freddie picked up his guitar and smirked. "Five, four, three, two, one, let's go!"

_So no one told you life was gonna be this way  
Your jobs a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A._

The beach erupted in a cheer and applause as the band began playing. Carly lifted her hands to her mouth and screamed out. "Go Freddie!" Sam laughed and joined Carly in the cheer on the band.

_  
It's like you're always stuck in second gear  
And it hasn't been your day, your week, your month,  
or even your year  
but.._

Jake and Freddie glanced at each other and then at the audience as they sang, they were thrilled to have such a great audience. Jonah had to admit, playing the drums was pretty fun. "Sing along!" Freddie called out.

_I'll be there for you  
When the rain starts to pour  
I'll be there for you  
Like I've been there before  
I'll be there for you  
'Cuz you're there for me too..._

The crowd cheered and clapped their hands together as they sang the chorus and versus with the band, it was an amazing sundown activity. Carly wondered how she could have missed out on something so great. She knew this song was about friendship, and she was going to start living to this song with her friends, no matter what.

_You're still in bed at ten  
And work began at eight  
You've burned your breakfast  
So far... things are goin' great  
Your mother warned you there'd be days like these  
Oh but she didn't tell you when the world has brought  
You down to your knees that..._

Sam was standing in the middle of Carly and Valerie, so she wrapped her arms around the girl's waists and they wrapped their inner arms around Sam's. The girls began to sway as they sang the chorus with the guys.

_I'll be there for you  
When the rain starts to pour  
I'll be there for you  
Like I've been there before  
I'll be there for you  
'Cuz you're there for me too..._

By now, the screams and excitement was running wild. There was no doubt in everyone's minds that the boys were enjoying it. Rueben, Shannon, Stephanie, Gibby, and Amber soon joined in the singing.

_No one could ever know me  
No one could ever see me  
Seems you're the only one who knows  
What it's like to be me  
Someone to face the day with  
Make it through all the rest with  
Someone I'll always laugh with  
Even at my worst I'm best with you, yeah  
_

Jonah, Freddie and Jake glanced at each other as they neared the final verse and chorus. They let out a quick laugh and looked back to the audience. "Come on everyone, you know the words!" Freddie lifted one hand up in a closed fist as he strummed the guitar. The entire beach soon rang out with the lyrics to the song.

_It's like you're always stuck in second gear  
And it hasn't been your day, your week, your month,__or even your year...I'll be there for you  
When the rain starts to pour  
I'll be there for you  
Like I've been there before  
I'll be there for you  
'Cuz you're there for me too…  
I'll be there for you  
I'll be there for you_  
_I'll be there for you  
'Cuz you're there for me too..._

The three hit the last notes and the song ended. Freddie lifted his hands up and cheered on the crowd. "Thank you everyone!" Jonah stood up from the drums and Jake shook a fist in the air.

"Yeah Freddie!" Sam shouted out. Carly laughed at her friend's display, but then she figured it was just perfect. The beach rang out with enormous applause and called for an encore of the song.

"We have a few more songs to play, and then we'll get right down to some more activities that you're all looking forward to. I'm glad you could be here." Freddie smirked and looked at Carly and Sam. "I'd like to thank my friend Miss Carly Shay for coming out tonight and seeing me perform, as well as my girlfriend Sam Puckett.It means a lot to have both of em out here, I don't know where I'd be without you two!" Sam and Carly both blushed and Valerie made an 'aw' sound. "You're true friends, this next piece is for you!" The beach then cheered and clapped as the band began yet another song and the party continued into the night. Carly was glad for one thing at least, her friends still thought she was a good friend and forgave her for any errors in the past.

* * *

I hope you liked that, and I highly recommend you check out the song. Here it is with only the lyrics: wwwdotyoutubedotcomslashwatch?vkxdAuE7F48k

Let me know what you thought, I actually thought up the idea when I was thinking about how Carly acted in some cases.


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